My Limitless Lily
by Allonso Bronyguy
Summary: When bad things happen, we get past them and move on. But what if the thing that happens is really bad? Money Shot tells the tale of the time a terrible tragedy befell his marefriend, Lily, and how she overcame a great loss. A special story written for Hearts and Hooves Day.


My Limitless Lily

By: Allonso Bronyguy

Hey, how ya doing? The name's Money Shot. Yeah, I know what that means, but believe me, my parents were using the clean definition of the phrase when they used it as my name. So you'd better not let me hear any sex jokes, got it?

They were actually kinda right. My parents, that is. They named me Money Shot 'cause the minute my ma had her hooves on me for the first time, my dad snapped a pic. Dad's a photographer; it kinda runs in the family. Anyway, he takes this photo of me being held by my ma. Now, she ain't had a minute to clean up or brush her hair or preen or nothing, so she looks…well, she looks like she just went through labor for like six hours. 'Cause, you know, she kinda just did. But, my ma never really cared how she looked anyway.

Now me, I didn't look too good either. She only had, like two, maybe three minutes to get me cleaned up before dad starts getting his camera ready, grinning like crazy and lining up the shot. She gives him this cute little smile like she does in almost every picture he has of her (and believe me, there are a lot) and she tilts her head and holds me up so that my face is right next to hers.

Now my dad always uses one of those cameras that prints the picture out right when you snap it. I prefer the more sophisticated stuff, but dad always hated waiting to develop film. I tell ya, it was harder for that guy to wait for a picture to develop than it was for a foal waiting for presents on Hearth's Warming. Anyway, once they have the photo, it's like it's the best thing since sliced bread. Seriously, you'd think I'd been born an alicorn or something.

Sorry, I'm rambling again. I tend to do that. Anyway what I meant to say was that the picture was so good, my dad called it a money shot and next thing you know, that's the name on my birth certificate.

But you didn't come here to hear my life story, did you? Nah, of course you didn't. It ain't that interesting anyway. No, you're here for me to tell you the story of Lily Valley.

If you don't know Lily, you're missing out. She's seriously the prettiest mare you ever saw. She's smart, she's funny, the whole shebang. I know saying a girl's awesome and following it up by saying she's smart and funny is kinda cliché, but she really is. Plus, that girl's got a body that just will not quit.

She's also, and this is the best part, my marefriend, so when I say she's hot, just take my word for it. Don't go looking where you shouldn't. Got it?

She wouldn't appreciate you looking back there anyway because- well, we'll get to that.

We met a while back. I think it was in the spring. I had a client (I mentioned I'm a photographer, right?) Anyway, I had a client who wanted some pics of flower displays for something. Her daughter's wedding? Whatever, it's not important. Now, I can take nature shots as good as the next guy, but the flowers this mare wanted in the pics weren't the kind you can find in any old park. So I headed down to the flower shop to see if they'd let me get some shots of the flowers I needed. I'll give you one guess who was working that day.

It wasn't love at first sight or anything. That kinda crap only happens in stories. But, I'm a pretty normal, red-blooded stallion, and I did notice that she was pretty cute. Anyway, I tell her about my predicament and ask if she can help me out. I even tell her I can give her a couple bits if she wanted. I didn't need to keep the flowers; I just needed to borrow 'em for a few minutes.

She talked about it with her boss, this other mare named Roseluck. Now, Roseluck is a really savvy business pony. So, she tells me that she'll let me take as many pics as I want, but only if I do a few for her for an ad they were gonna put in the paper. That sounded fair to me, so I agreed.

Now, I don't know nothing about arranging a bouquet, so Lily says she'll help me. I told her the kind of flowers and colors I needed in it and she got 'em. She even put in some extra stuff to make it look nicer. She's real OCD, so all of them had to be placed just right and it took a while. I didn't mind though, we got to talking while she worked. Plus, her back was turned to me and, like I said, she's pretty cute.

What? Don't look at me like that. I'm not some kinda perv or anything. I looked away when I realized I was staring. It was only like two seconds.

OK, maybe three.

Anyway, we hit it off pretty well and by the time I'd had the pictures I needed plus the pictures I took for them, I'd asked her out for coffee. After that, we went on a couple dates. She really liked going on picnics, so we did that most of the time. Every now and again I'd take her to a restaurant and we'd have a normal date, but she liked being outside most.

She loves nature, seeing the beauty of it. Now, don't get me wrong, I like looking at flowers and trees and stuff as much as the next guy, but if given the choice, I'd rather do something a little more exciting. With Lily, though, it was different. With her, I could sit and stare at plants all day. She just has this way of...I don't know, making you see how pretty something really is. It's not just flowers either.

This one time we were going on a walk in the park and we passed by this pond. Now, the thing about Ponyville park is that it gets taken care of by this guy named Pine Breeze. He and Lily are friends and we see him in the park a lot. Anyway, he was cleaning the pond that day. It had gotten pretty bad. There was a ton of scum and weeds everywhere. Lily said 'hi' to him and told him how great it was starting to look. He looked at her like she'd told him Celestia had pink fur or something, but he shrugged and said 'if you say so'. Then she said that it really did look good. She started pointing to different parts of the pond, saying you could almost see where stuff would go or how it would look. Over here'd be where little foals would feed the goldfish . Some lily pads would grow over there and frogs'd hop around on 'em and croak when evening came. Her description painted a really pretty picture.

When we came back a week later, the pond was just like she'd imagined it, maybe better. She's always had this way of seeing the beauty in things, even when ponies don't notice. It's one of the things I really like about her.

We're pretty normal as far as couples go. Yeah, we have some fights, like when I get impatient with her obsessing over every little detail. But we always manage to work it out. We've been dating for…let's see, I think it'd be almost two years now and with everything we've been through, I can honestly say I never want to be without that awesome girl.

Huh? Oh, sorry. The way I make it sound, everything's been peaches and crème. Trust me, it ain't always been like that. There was this one time, I tell you it still scares me when I think about it. I thought I'd lost my girl forever.

We'd been going out for about eight months or so, somewhere in that range. I got done with a project a little early and was gonna stop by and give her a surprise visit. Since she works in a flower shop, they don't really do as much for her as they do for other fillies. I had to learn pretty quick what she liked when we started dating. I found out she liked these little candied fruits that Bon Bon sells. They're a bit pricey, but I still get 'em for her every now and again, especially when she's getting real panicky about making a big order perfect. That, or when she's mad at me for something. I'd bought a box for her and was gonna take her out for a nice picnic dinner that night.

As I started walking down the street the shop's on, I see this big dark cloud. I thought it was kinda funny 'cause the rest of the sky was all clear and sunny.

Then I realized it wasn't a cloud. It was smoke.

And it was coming from the flower shop.

I started running as fast as I could. I knew deep in my gut that something was wrong and it scared me bad enough I didn't even have the sense to use my wings. When I got there, I saw smoke pouring out the windows. The whole place was burning so hot I could feel it even standing as far away as I was. Firefighters were running around using freezing spells and pouring water everywhere to get the flames out. I looked around and I saw Roseluck and Lily's other friend, Daisy, sitting a little ways away. They were all covered in soot and coughing like they just got out of there. I ran up to them to see if they were OK and then I realized something.

Lily wasn't with them.

I asked them what happened and if they knew where Lily was. They both looked around, like they just realized that she wasn't with them and Roseluck looked back at the flower shop and turned, well, more pale and I realized what she was thinking even before she said it.

Lily was still in there.

Before I even know what's happening, I'm flapping my wings as hard as I can towards the door of the shop. I didn't even know what I was gonna do. I just knew I had to get Lily out of there. Before I got there, though, one of the firefighters grabbed me and held me down. I started kicking and screaming for him to let me go, telling him my marefriend was still in there. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was actually a good thing that he stopped me. A few seconds after he pinned me down, the wall above the front door collapsed.

Eventually, I got too tired from struggling and just lay there, numb. Roseluck and Daisy came over and hugged me, telling me and each other that Lily was going to make it and that she probably got out the back.

It felt like I had a manticore sitting on my chest with its stinger stuck straight through me. All the ponies around me moved in slow motion and I just closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them, I'd be in my bed and it would all be a bad dream.

It was the first of many times I'd make that wish that day.

We waited…gosh, I don't know how long. The building was just about to collapse when they found her. When I heard what was going on, I thought I'd be sick.

They were getting her on the ambulance cart. I couldn't see much, but it looked like she'd got burned pretty bad. The worst part was how loud she was screaming. I ain't never heard a sound as awful as the way that she was screaming before and I don't think I ever will again.

I ran over as fast as I could. I don't even know what I thought I was gonna do. I just had to do something to help her. When I got close…

Sorry, it's just the thought of seeing her like I saw her that day still makes me sick. I'd read a couple of gory books, you know, the kind where some psycho kills ponies and puts them in a cake, or that one about the weather factory (which is total horseapples by the way). They're not my favorite, but a couple of 'em were OK. Anyway, when I saw her, it made some of those books look like something you'd read to your kid at bedtime. One thing I'll never forget is the smell. Needless to say, the lunch I had eaten a few hours earlier reared its ugly head.

They gave Lily something to knock her out and rushed her to the ER. I flew after the cart and Roseluck and Daisy ran. I was all panicky and screaming at the nurse at the desk when Roseluck and Daisy caught up to me. Daisy pulled me aside and helped me calm down and Roseluck tried to find out what was going on.

We sat in the waiting room for a real long time. Well, Daisy and Roseluck sat. I wore a groove in the floor pacing back and forth. Whenever the door opened, I'd dash over and ask whoever came out if Lily was OK.

I was so scared. Every minute that passed, I was more and more afraid that I'd lost her. I tried to remember the last thing I said to her. I couldn't even remember what it was. It was probably just one of those run-of-the-mill goodbye phrases like 'catch'ya later' or something.

One thing I do know, it wasn't 'I love you.' Neither of us had said that to each other yet. I came close a couple of times, but it just didn't seem right, you know? The first time saying something like that should be special and whenever I wanted to say it the moment just didn't seem right. I knew Lily wouldn't really care when I said it, but what can I say, I like doing romantic stuff like that for my girl. I'd wished then that I'd said it when I had the chance.

When the doctor came out, it was really late. Daisy's fiancée, Colton, had come by and sat with us for a while and he was there. He, the doctor, I mean, he looked like he'd been through Tartarus and back. He explained to us that, in addition to some smoke inhalation, Lily had gotten pinned under a collapsed beam and had second and third degree burns over a lot of her, especially her back legs.

He almost couldn't tell us the last part and I swear I saw tears in his eyes when he did. The burns on Lily's back legs were so bad that…that they'd had to amputate them.

Now I'm a pegasus and I don't know a whole lot about earth pony magic and stuff, but I knew enough to know why Roseluck, Daisy and Colton all gasped and looked as scared for Lily as they did. An earth pony's legs are really important to them, even more than a unicorn values their horn or a pegasus values their wings. It's why a lot of them'll break more than a few bones in your body if you call them lame. A lame earth pony can't work, so I guess that means they think they're worthless. There isn't anything I can say to get you to understand how bad something like this was for her.

We asked if we could see her and he said we could, but she was sedated and we could only visit for a little while. I practically ran down the hall to her room. She was all hooked up and had tubes and wires all over her. Most of her body was bandaged and I was scared to touch her at first 'cause she looked so bad I thought she'd fall apart if I so much as moved a feather.

I went up to the side of her bed and just stared at her for a while. Her chest was moving up and down and that let me know that she was still alive, a fact I thank Celestia for every day. The forehoof closest to me wasn't wrapped up much, so I just held it. I didn't really know what to say. I wasn't even sure if she'd hear me if I did say anything.

All of us just stayed there with her until the nurse came in and said it was time to go. I didn't want to leave. I'd come so close to losing her and I never wanted to go through that again. Before I got up I took off my hat and just set it down where she'd see it. I guess I wanted her to know I'd been there if she woke up. I told her I loved her then. Even if she couldn't hear me, I didn't want to leave her without saying it.

I was up all that night. I'd never felt so helpless before. The mare I loved had had something so bad happen to her and there wasn't a darn thing I could do. I came this close to buying a ticket to Canterlot and begging the Princesses themselves to do something.

When I got back to the hospital the next day I sat with her until she woke up. I'm glad the nurse was in there changing her bandages at the time, 'cause I never would have had it in me to tell her what happened. I tried not to cry, to be strong for her when she found out she'd never walk again, but I didn't last long. All I could do was hold her and let her know I was there.

Daisy and Roseluck came to see her a while later. Roseluck was all hysterical. She kept on apologizing and saying she didn't mean to do something. When we got her to calm down she told us that they'd found out the fire had been started when the hot plate she uses for her coffee had short circuited.

The four of us stayed there with Lily that day. We didn't say much, we just held on to one another.

The next couple of weeks were pretty rough for all of us, especially Lily. Her bandages had to get changed every day so that her burns wouldn't get infected. She was on a lot of pain meds for a while, so she was kind of out of it a lot of the time.

It was really hard for her to get used to it at first. Sometimes she'd ask me to lie in bed with her and spoon and she'd have me move my legs around under the covers so it looked like she still kinda had hers. She told me once that sometimes she could still feel her legs. Sometimes she felt an itch and she'd go to scratch it without thinking. The doctors said it was 'cause her brain didn't really get that her legs were gone.

I visited her a lot and stayed as long as I could. Sometimes I didn't really know what to do, though. I tried to not look at where her legs used to be, but I think she noticed. For a while I tried keeping a brave face and smiling for her, thinking maybe it would help. She didn't like that too much. She told me that she didn't want me pretending everything was OK, because it wasn't.

One thing I never stopped doing, though, was telling her I loved her. I told her every day. I never stopped bringing her flowers, either. Her friends gave me any flowers they could spare to keep her room looking cheerful. I always made sure that she had plenty of lilies to put in her hair like she likes to do. Almost every morning, I'd go over there right about the time she was getting herself ready. I'd help her brush her mane and put a lily in it. She told me she could do it herself, but I knew she liked when I did stuff like that.

The toughest part for her was getting used to a wheelchair. She had a hard time keeping herself from sliding in the seat once she got in and she hated that she had to have somepony help her get in. Not really sure why, but she didn't complain as much when I did it. Anyway, one day she got fed up with the stupid thing. She looked at me and I swear I saw the hate for that chair burning in her eyes. She used this really scary voice she has, the one she uses on me when I'm in trouble, and she said,

'Money Shot. Get me pencils and a sketch pad. I'm never. Touching. That. Chair. Again.'

She never did, either. She stayed in her bed, just drawing and thinking for days after that. I added paper removal to the list of stuff I did when I stopped by. Most of her first ideas were just the chair with a bunch of extra straps. Eventually, though, she got away from the whole chair idea. One day, I came in and she was all excited. She was smiling again and I just about cried. She hadn't smiled since before the fire.

She showed me what she'd been working on. It was kinda like a wheelchair, but it only had two wheels and it didn't have a back, just a padded seat. I didn't really understand what I was looking at, but I told her I'd help her make it

I got this one guy in town to help her. He's a real nerdy type, had a face only his ma could love. What was his name? I can never remember. Gearhead? Gizmo? Something like that. Anyway he and Lily talked and he took her drawings to his "lab" or whatever.

When he came back, he'd built the thing that Lily had drawn. I still didn't see how she was gonna sit in it. It couldn't even stand up on its own.

Turns out she never planned to sit on it. She had me and what's-his-name hold it up and help her out of bed and set her back end on top of the thing. Then we wrapped this leather strap around her waist. When she told us to let go of her, I couldn't at first. I was afraid she'd fall. She told me it was OK. I trusted her, but I still kept close by in case she needed me.

The thing wasn't perfect. It was a little too high, so the nerdy guy said he'd readjust it. But it still worked. Lily stood there with the biggest grin I'd ever seen. She told me to go stand over on the other side of the room. I didn't want to leave her side, but she gave me this look that I just can't resist. I stood on the other end of the room, facing her and she did something that still makes me all giddy inside.

She started walking.

It was a little weird for her because her front legs were doing all the work, but I don't think she really cared. She had tears in her eyes as she took another step, then another.

I couldn't believe it. She was walking! My Lily was walking with only her front legs. I was so happy, I wanted to run to her and give her a hug and kiss her until neither of us could breathe. I held off, though. I knew it'd be even better when she made it to me.

She took her time, but I could tell she wanted to run real bad. When she finally reached me, she was trembling and she had tears running down her face. She was so excited, she leapt up and wrapped her hooves around me, which made the thing roll back and she almost fell. I managed to catch her though. I'd never been happier for her or anypony else in my life.

When we showed Daisy and Roseluck, the nurse threatened to throw them out 'cause they were so happy they screamed.

After her wheels got readjusted, she kept practicing and getting better at walking. She'd take long walks around the hospital and visit all the doctors and nurses and other patients. They started calling her the angel of Ponyville hospital.

When her burns had mostly healed and she got discharged, she tried running. She fell once or twice, but that didn't stop her. Nothing ever stopped her. When she went to visit places that didn't have a ramp, she wouldn't let me help her until she had tried to get up the steps at least once.

Sometimes ponies look at her funny when she goes out. They look at her like she isn't really a pony anymore. Well, ya know what? They can all go buck themselves. She's more of a pony than they'll ever be. I don't know if she's seen how she gets sidelong looks from some ponies, but if she has, she doesn't let on. She gives a smile to everypony that she meets.

Sometimes foals ask about her legs. You know how foals can get. They say stuff like 'where's your legs?' or 'why do you have wheels?' Most of the time their parents'll shush them and apologize. Lily smiles and says it's OK and then she makes up a silly story about how she woke up one day and forgot them or something. One time she told a little colt she was a robot.

Ever since she got the wheels (that's what she calls them), the only limit she's got is how far the ground goes. Sometimes she even ignores that limit. Sometimes she unstraps herself from the wheels and holds on to me and we fly. I've never taken her very high 'cause I don't want to drop her, but tonight that's gonna change.

I had this special harness made for her and I'm giving it to her tonight. Turns out there's a cloud walking spell that lets non-pegasi walk on clouds. I'm gonna surprise her with a trip up there. I have a unicorn buddy that can cast the spell.

Lily's the strongest, prettiest, most wonderful mare I know. I can't imagine ever being without her. I love her so much and I want to spend the rest of my life by her side, taking whatever life throws at us together. That's why, when we're up there on a cloud tonight, watching the stars together, her holding my hoof, I'm gonna tell her. I'm gonna say it all. I'm gonna tell her how much she means to me.

And then I'm gonna ask her to marry me.

Proofread by ACTASAP


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